


Attempts

by ChaosOrdo_FFL



Category: Hannibal (TV), Japanese Drama, 信長のシェフ | Nobunaga no Chef | A Chef of Nobunaga (TV)
Genre: Gen, Multi, Murder Family, Writing practice, procrastination, prompts, unbetaed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 01:25:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12121515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaosOrdo_FFL/pseuds/ChaosOrdo_FFL
Summary: My attempts at writing/Prompts I fill while trying to ignore the presence of my own WIPs in the background.





	1. Nobunaga no Chef

**Author's Note:**

> I was feeling really guilty about not updating a current fic (9 hits for my 9th fic! *simultaneously grins and sweats*), so I decided to post these. These will not be exclusive to one fandom, so check the chapter titles for fandom-specific fic.

Things...I felt when you got sick.

 

 

___

 

 

**Worry.**

Like a bad stomach ache. A pressure in my chest, a tightness around my heart like chains. Nausea so bad I consume ginger tea with every meal.

 

**Panic.**

How could I not? In times such as these, a life could be snatched by disease just as easily as by blade. Despite how larger than life you present yourself to be, you _are_ only a man. Oda Nobunaga is supposed to die at Honnō ji, but the fear of history changing remains ever present.

 

**Yearning.**

To be by your side through it all. To wipe the sweat from your brow, and feed you nutritious foods. To nurse you back to health with my own hands. But, I have a duty to do. And Oyakata-sama would not forgive me faltering in it.

 

**Inadequacy.**

I could feed you rich broths, puree vegetable smoothie after vegetable smoothie, substitute brown rice for white rice in your diet, boil herbal blends until I permanently smell like an apothecary; and still, nothing could replace true medical knowledge. Despite all that I have helped you to accomplish, all I can do is look on in despair at your unconscious body, wracked by fever.

 

**Relief.**

The force of it taking my breath away. Tears forming in my eyes at the news of your steady recovery. The sight of Oyakata-sama sitting up of your own accord, a cape draped over your slumped shoulders to stave off the chill, was more inspiring than any pre-battle speech.

 

"Ken. Make me something sweet."

 

Unable to suppress his wide smile, Ken bowed at the waist.

 

"Yes, Nobunaga-sama."


	2. Nobunaga no Chef

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lil sumn sumn from my AU.

“Could you be happy, here, with me?”

 

___

 

Nobunaga paused in his action of caressing Ranmaru's hair to look at Ken.

 

Ken shifted his gaze to his clenched fists and attempted to validate his enquiry:

 

"I mean- It's just that- I know that Oyakata sama is the type of man who will try to succeed at whatever he sets his mind to, and with your cunning I do not doubt that you **will**  succeed in Heisei. But..."

 

"But?"

 

Natsu shifted against his back, burying her face into his hip.

 

Ken looked up; the eerie light coming from the tv, showing the nightmare scene in Kagemusha, gave his lord an almost menacing countenance.

 

He straightened his back, met that fierce gaze head on.

 

"But could you be happy? Despite everything you've ever known having disappeared? With your status reduced to that of a commoner? With no consorts? All your other vassals gone? Not even being able to carry a dagger? Could you be happy here, Nobunaga-sama? With me? Natsu? Ranmaru  Just us? Do you think we can be enough for you?"

 

Nobunaga chuffed, adjusted the fleece around Ranmaru's shoulders.

 

"Ken. What is with this insecurity?"

 

Ken recoiled a bit from the unexpected counter-question. "Ah- No!"

 

"Yes. In me. In yourself." Nobunaga paused to take a breath, glancing at the tv screen and then back at Ken. "Harakiri. I was about to die, Ken. We all were. But somehow, we did not. Instead, we are here, in Heisei. In a new day. Titles and status have little meaning to me. Hideyoshi and Ieyasu accomplished what I set out to do. Vengeance was enacted upon Mitsuhide. My legacy continues. Why should I mourn what was, instead of fighting for what I wish to happen?

 

Ken. I am here, in this new world, with vassals by my side. That is all I need. I will continue to advance, no matter the circumstance. Just keep following me, and preparing food for me. That is all you need. Don't ask such a foolish question again."

 

Pursing his lips to hide his pleased smile, Ken bowed his head. "Yes."

 

They returned to watching the movie in silence.


	3. Nobunaga no Chef

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I's about damn time Ken had gotten some real wounds like shit was cray during those times the occasional protection of a single ninja would not have been enough.

“Don’t you dare die on me!”

___

"I forbid you to die!"

Nobunaga spoke the command harshly, leaning over Ken as he laid unconscious. He stared down at him, willing him to obey his order, willing him to fight.

He expected nothing less from a vassal of his.

When Ken had accidentally taken an arrow meant for him, the sight of his precious cook falling to the ground in agony had shaken him even more than the news of the Ikkō revolt so many months ago.

He'd initially brushed off the worry he felt, but when Ken began to vomit during his wound dressing, he found he could not help himself from staying throughout the treatment.

His Ken was strong, yes, but poison? Even the best warriors could not so easily fend off such means of attack.

Exhaling slowly, Nobunaga straightened, perusing Ken's ashen and sweaty countenance. He had slowly begun to regain some color. Nobunaga chuffed and smirked to himself; his resilient cook would continue to fight. Good.

He trickled water past Ken's barely parted dry lips, re-dampened the cloth placed on his forehead, wiped away sweat that had gathered on his neck, swiped at his chest, avoiding the wound on his shoulder. He dampened the cloth again, and replaced it on Ken's forehead after pushing his hair away from his face.

He looked at Natsu, who was trying, and failing, to hold back her tears.

"Natsu."

The girl's gaze snapped to him.

"Watch over him. Call for me the moment his fever breaks. Do not fail."

Natsu sniffled and straightened her back, wiped her dripping nose on her arm. "Yes. I won't, Oyakata-sama."

Nobunaga hummed at her and nodded his approval. The girl was just as resilient as Ken after all. She would ensure that he continued to cling to life.

He looked back at Ken, laid a hand flat to the center of his chest, felt his shallow breathing.

"Ken. You will make me something especially delicious after this."

With that, Nobunaga rose and left the small tent. He had a would-be assassin to deal with.

He didn't think much about Ken after that, letting the thought of him slip to the back of his mind as he continued to campaign.

After all, the respective powers of poisons and loves aside, if there was one thing Ken could not do, it was disobey an order from his lord.


	4. Hannibal

"Answer me."

 

___

 

Hannibal remained firm despite the expression of misery his child wore. He would not budge on this.

 

 « Ne réponds-tu pas? » 

 

Abigail simply continued to wring her hands, not looking him directly in the face.

 

Hannibal gingerly held up the offending item, discovered in Abigail's backpack when he'd began to empty it for the night: a pack of snack-size twizzlers.

 

It had taken all of Hannibal's willpower to not just throw the thing into the woods behind the house, far away from him and his family.

 

"What did I tell you about bringing such food items into this house?"

 

Abigail's voice was nearly a whisper, "That processed foods are allowed only on Halloween. Sometimes Easter."

 

"And still, here it is." Hannibal dropped the trash onto the coffee table, disgust oozing from even his hand motion.

 

He sighed, loudly for effect. "Abigail. You know I encourage you to try different foods, to broaden your palate, but there's a limit."

 

She sniffled. "But I didn't bring it home on purpose, papa, honest! Kacy must have slipped it into my bag when I wasn't looking; her mom packs them for her all the time!"

 

Hannibal raised a brow. "And why would Kacy have slipped it into your bag?"

 

Abigail shut her mouth, her cheeks turning pink.

 

He sighed deeply again, made a show of rubbing his eyes. "Have you been sampling your friends' snacks, Abigail?"

 

No answer. That was all Hannibal needed.

 

"What's going on?"

 

Abigail turned towards the doorway leading out to the foyer. "Daddy..."

 

Will went straight to her, kneeling to get a proper look. "What's wrong, Buggy?"

 

Hannibal quickly intervened. "That," He gestured to the blight on his coffee table. "Is what's wrong."

 

Will glanced at the pack of candy, then back at Hannibal, giving him a look of confusion. "I don't get it."

 

Hannibal said nothing, merely raised his eyebrows.

 

It took Will a few seconds, but the moment he got it he made a face of comprehension.

 

Then immediately rolled his eyes so hard it nearly hurt.

 

He looked at Abigail, placed a hand on top of her head. "Papa givin' you crap for eating junk food?"

 

Abigail gave a meek nod. Will sighed.

 

"Go on upstairs, I'll come play with you later."

 

His daughter gave him a grateful smile, and quickly ran away before Hannibal could veto that order.

 

Will stood up, and found himself on the receiving end of an unimpressed look. He gave his husband one of his own right back.

 

"Seriously?"

 

"I could ask you the same."

 

"Hannibal, please."

 

Hannibal sat down on the sofa and crossed his legs.

 

"I'd expected something like this, but never would I have thought that she would be consuming these... _farcical foods_  on a regular basis."

 

He sighed, naturally this time, and bowed his head. "Soon she'll be consuming things such as-" The words caught in his throat for a moment. " ** _Fast food_** _**b** **urgers**._ " He nearly sobbed them out.

 

A strangled noise. Hannibal looked up to see Will with a hand over his mouth.

 

"Are you laughing?" he asked incredulously.

 

Will held up a hand. "I'm sorry, but, isn't this a bit of an overreaction?"

 

"Twizzlers, Will. **Twizzlers**. There are certain things one must nip in the bud."

 

"Yeah, those are pretty gross."

 

"I'm glad you agree."

 

"She's a kid though. We should let her explore and try new things."

 

"Narezushi is exploration. _This,_ this is just-"

 

"Common. Her friends eat it so she'd like to try it too. Not that difficult, Hannibal."

 

Hannibal stared at him, not blinking.

 

Will waved him off. "Yeah yeah, it's an offense to your sensibilities and what-not. Just make sure you give her something nice for dessert, to make up for your pretentiousness."

 

Hannibal looked positively appalled. "And reward such terrible taste?"

 

Will headed to the kitchen, ignoring him. "I think there might be some matcha-fudge left over from Sunday..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twizzlers are the hair ornaments of Eris.


	5. Hannibal

She stared at him, holding her favorite teddy bear in one hand and his pistol in the other. "Hi, Dad," she whispered.

 

___

 

 

Will rubbed at his eyes and squinted at his daughter through the darkness. "Abi? What are you doing? What time is it?"

 

At her incessant tugging on his comforter, he finally shuffled over to make room for her on the bed. Some of the dogs must have also taken that as an invitation because Will soon found four furry heaters at his back and feet.

 

"Last time I checked it was after two thirty."

 

Will hissed when her cold feet touched his calves. "God, you're freezing! Why do you have this with you anyway?" he asked as he took the loaded gun from her and she snuggled closer.

 

"I had a weird dream. A monster came and took you away. I fought him, but I lost. I remember crunching noises. Flowers don't taste nice, daddy, even though they look pretty and smell good."

 

Will yawned as he placed the gun on the nightstand, one of the dogs -Zoe from the feel of it- immediately burying their snout in his neck afterwards. "I doubt they all taste bad, Buggy. Still, next time just come get me. The gun's not necessary."

 

Abigail buried her nose in Mr. Ento's soft fur, exuding quiet disagreement.

 

Will sighed and stroked her hair, looking at the long shadows cast by the branches of the tree by the window. He worried for her sometimes, especially during winter, when all she had for company was him and the dogs, out here in the isolated wilderness. It couldn't be healthy.

 

Closing his eyes, Will fell back into sleep with two breaths puffing away at his chest and nape.

 

Outside, the wind howled; the branches didn't move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I imagined this to be sort of like a The Labyrinth/El Laberinto del Fauno kinda thing, with Hannibal kidnapping Will and attempting to woo him, Will basically sharpening a knife in the corner throughout (which doesn't help to deter Hannibal's affections one bit), and Abigail searching for him through multiple dimensions, maybe doing a couple tasks along the way. The poor bb would be irritated from lack of sleep, food, and her dad, but she'll be dammed if she doesn't get the bedtime story promised to her! In the end, Hannibal ends up respecting the little creature that had been a thorn in his side, maybe even liking her a bit (shhh, don't tell Bedelia she's been replaced by a twitchy little man and his foul-mouthed, trigger happy spawn); Will gets to give the punch he's been wanting to ever since he saw Hannibal's beautiful, smug face, as well as a date with a semi-respectable, semi-eldritch horror to tell Bev about; Abby gets her bedtime story, as well as the favor of an ancient forest god; Bedelia gets more wine and less dangerously bored Hannibal. Wins all around.


End file.
